Memphis Grizzlies: Embracing a process of their own is already paying dividends

How other teams should learn from this

If Sam Hinkie invented the process, Zach Kleiman appears to be perfecting it in Memphis. It has been questionable as to whether or not “The Process”  actually worked for Philly. Hinkie botched some drafts, his coaching hire is questionable, and he had the “reputation” of being cheap. Also, Hinkie was fired before he ever got to see the real fruits of his work.

What Memphis is doing is showing that elements of Hinkie’s process do work and that they are strategies that other teams need to adopt. Especially teams in small markets like Memphis.

Building in this way is smart and allows teams that are stuck in the middle-bottom of the league a quicker chance of recovery. It’s smarter than clearing cap-space and hoping your team can sign a top free-agent like the New York Knicks have been trying to.

If we continue to see growth out of this Grizzlies team I think it is safe to say that other teams will look to replicate the strategy and crazy enough time may turn out to be much kinder to Sam Hinkie than we originally thought too.